Safety device for elevators.



No. 659,493. Patented Oct. 9,1900.

- 4 a. E. SHEPLER.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

(Application filed June 3, 1899.)

(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Shaef 1.

WITNESSES w: NORPIG PETERS oomuofoumou WASHINGTON, n10.

No. 659,493. Patented 001:. 9, I900.

G. E. SHEPLEB.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

(Application filed June a, 1899.)

2 Sheets-Shoat 2 A TTOHNEY.

(No Model.)

EEIZE:

IIIIIII/YIIIIIIIIII/II/III/IIII/ NlTE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. SHEPLER, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 659,493, dated October 9, 1900.

Application filed June 3, 1899. Qerial No. 719,201. (No model-l To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. SHEPLER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Devices for Elevators; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 indicates a side elevation of a portion of elevator-shaft with carriage therein and side elevation of the ordinary hydraulic mechanism for operating the same; also, end view of my improved device for automatically stopping the car by the opening of a door or doors in the elevator-shaft. Fig. 2 is a plan view of my improved device for automatically stopping the operating mechanism of elevators. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 4 is an end view of the same. Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation on line A B of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view of electric circuits. Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of elevator-shaft switch. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of car-switch.

My invention relates to apparatus for automatically stopping the operating mechanism of elevators by the opening of a door or doors in the elevator-shaft and maintaining the same inoperative so long as the dooror doors remain open.

One object of my invention is to produce a device by the use of which the operating mechanism of the elevator is stopped in the event of opening any of the doors in the elevatorshaft and held in an inoperative position so long as any of said doors remain open.

Another purpose of my invention is to prevent the elevator-carriage sinking below the level of the floor by leakage in the piston or valves. It is also adapted to cut off or stop the operating mechanism when the carriage arrives at either end of the elevator-shaft; and to these purposes my invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of pa rts hereinafter more specifically described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, in which like reference characters indicate like parts wherever they occur.

passes over sheaves 7 7, mounted on shafts 8,

arranged in the top of the elevator-shaft, and sheaves 9 9, which are mounted on the large sheave 10, which sheave is mounted on the shaft 11, journaled in hearings in the standard 12, arranged in the bottom of the elevator-shaft. When said controller-rope 6 is actuated by said lever, the sheave 10 makes a partial revolution, dependent upon the direction in which the lever is thrown. The motion of said sheave 10 is transmitted to the wheel 13 by means of tlie rope 14, which passes over said wheel and sheave 10. The said wheel 13 is is mounted on the shaft 15, which is suitably journaled in bearings formed in the standard 16, located on a platform 17, between the mainvalve chamber 18 and the auxiliary-valve chamber 19. To one end of said shaft a small crank 20 is secured and to which the lower end of a link 21 is connected. The upper end of said link is pivot-allyseoured to the horizontal lever 22, the ends ofwhich, respectively, are pivotally connected to extensions of the piston-rods 23 24 of the main and auxilia-ry valves, respectively, which are located in the main and auxiliary valve chambers, respectively. Motion communicated to said wheel 13 is thus transmitted to said crank for the purpose of opening and closing said main and auxiliary valves to admit and shut off pressu re to the hydraulic cylinder 25, connected therewith. As this mechanism is the usual mechanism employed for operating hydraulically-driven elevators, I need not enlarge upon the same.

The upper end or extension of the pistonrod 26 of the hydraulic cylinder is provided with a wheel 27, under which the elevatorsuspending rope 28 passes, said rope passing over and being supported upon large sheaves 29 and being finally secured in the top of the elevator-carriage. The extension 26 of said h ydraulic-cyliuder piston-rodis provided with a bracket 30, which projects laterally there- ICO from and to which the ends of the sprocketchain 31 are secured. The length of said sprocket-chain coincides with the stroke of the hydraulic piston. The said sprocketchain passes over sprocket-wheels 32 and 33,

respectively, which are respectively mountedon the shafts 34 and 35,arranged,respectively, in the top of the elevator-shaft and in the standards 36, 37, and 38, the said standards being suitably secured to the platform 39. The sprocket-wheel is loosely mounted on the end of said shaft 35, which is, as heretofore stated, journaled in bearings formed in the upper ends of said standards. is a spur-wheel which is attached to or integral with said sprocket-wheel 33 for the purpose of transmittingpower to the large spur-wheel 41, rigidly secured upon the shaft 42, journaled below said shaft 35 in hearings formed in said standards 36, 37, and 38. Power is thus transmitted to the shaft 35 by means of the small spunwheel 43, which meshes with the large spur-wheel 44, mounted on the shaft 35. Power is then transmitted to the sheave 45, which is loosely mounted on said shaft 35 by means of a clutch, which consists of the male part 46, mounted on said shaft 35 by means of a spline, which projects in a slot 47 in said shaft, and the female part 48, which is an integral part of said sheave 45 or may be rigidly connected thereto. The said clutch is actuated by the magnets 49 50 when the same is energized by electric current conveyed from a battery 51 or other source of electric supply through theconductors 52 The said magnets are bolted to or otherwise suitably supported upon a yoke or bracket 54, which is secured to the top of the standard 37. The ends of said yoke are provided with orifices through which the rods 55 56 project and on which are mounted spiral springs 55 56', the retraction of which disengages said clutch when said magnets are deenergized. The ends, respectively, of said rods are connected to the armature 57 of said magnets and to the brackets 58 58, which carry a collar 59, seated in a recess formed in the periphery of the male part of the clutch. The armature 57 is provided with a non-mag netic bearing 60, through which the shaft 35 projects, and is also provided with orifices 61 62, in which a non-magnetic pin 63, connected to the cores of said magnet, projects for the purpose of serving as a guide. The said sheave 45 transmits motion to a supplemental valve-wheel .90 on the valve-shaft 15 by means of the rope or cable y, whereby pres" sure is shut off from the cylinder and the operating mechanism held inoperative so long as said clutch is in engagement.

The lower end of the sheave 45 has secured thereto a segmental gear 45, which meshes with the toothed pinion 64, which is mounted upon the inner threaded end of shaft 42, the said pinion being internally threaded, whereby when said shaft is rotated said pinion is caused to move from and toward the abutments 65 66, rigidly fastened upon said shaft. The ends of said pinion are provided with recesses 64, whereby when said pinion travels a sulficient distance on the threaded end of shaft 42 to engage either of said abutments the said pinion is held rigid on the shaft and caused to rotate. therewith, revolving the sheave a distance sufficient to transmit. motion to the sheave w on the valve-shaft 15 by means of the rope y, thereby operating the valves to shut off pressure to the cylinder, as hereinafter described, forthe purpose of stopping the mechanism. The shaft 42 is so threaded and driven at a speed graduated thereto that the car performs its u pward jour ney and downward journey within the same period that the pinion is caused to travel between the abutments.

A indicates a series of switches located in the elevator-shaft at every landing. The said switch comprises a contact-plate a, which is secured upon the insulatorbaud is carried by a pin 0, the outer part of which projects toward the door or doors (I in the elevator-shaft. A small spiral spring e is mounted on said pin on the inner end of the same for the purpose of moving the plate a into or against the contacts a a," when the door is opened.

Within the ear I locate an emergencyswitch B, having three contact-buttons fff for the purpose of energizing said magnets through the medium of an auxiliary circuit independently of the movement of the door or doors, comprising the conductors g g, as hereinafter specified, for the purpose of operating the shut-off mechanism in the event of the controller-rope breaking or other accident occurring to the operating mechanism of the elevator.

The operation of my device is as follows, to wit: The door being open, as shown in Fig. 6, the retraction of the spring carries the contact-plate against contacts a a which closes the circuit and permits electric current to pass from the batteries or other source of electric supply to and through the magnet, energizing the same and attracting the armature thereof, thereby compressing the springs which are mounted upon the rods which connect the armature with the male portion of the clutch, moving said male portion into engagement with the female portion of said clutch, thus rigidly fastening the sheave which is integral with the female portion of the clutch upon the power-shaft and transmitting motion to the sheave m on the valve-shaft by means of the rope 1 closing the valves which admit pressure to the cylinder and holding the same closed so long as the door remains open and preventing the operator from throwing his lever in any direction until the door is closed, upon the happening of which the circuit is broken and the spring on the armature-rod releases the clutch mechanism and permits the operator to throw his lever in whichever direction he may desire.

In the event of any accident happening to IIO the controller-r0 pe or other circumstance that would place the car beyond the control of the operator the operator by throwing the emergency switch 15 to the upper contact transmits electric current to the auxiliary circuit to the magnets, energizing the same and stopping the car, as heretofore set forth.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. The combination with an elevator-cage, a door at a landing, a hydraulic cylinder having a piston operatively connected to the cage, valve mechanism for controlhng the flow to the hydraulic cylinder, and controlling mechanism on the cage for governing the valve mechanism, of a safety controlling apparat'us, for automatically stopping the cage, com prising mechanism operatively connected to the valve mechanism aforesaid but normally unaffecting it, means for operating the safety mechanism by the movement of the piston, and electrically-controlled means,governed by the door, for rendering the safety mechanism operative with respect to the valve mechanism.

2. The combination with an elevator-cage, a door at a landing, a hydraulic cylinder having a piston operatively connected to the cage, valve mechanism for controlling the flow to the hydraulic cylinder, and controlling mechanism on the cage for governing the valve mechanism, of a safety controlling apparatus, for automatically stopping the cage, com prising a power-shaft which is driven by the movements of the piston in the hydraulic cylinder, a sheave mounted loosely on said power-shaft, and operatively connected with the valve mechanism, a clutch for locking said sheave to the power-shaft, an electromagnet for operating said clutch, and circuit connections with the door whereby the magnet is energized.

3. The combination with an elevator-cage, a door at a landing, and mechanism for raising and lowering the cage, of electromagnetic mechanism governing the raising and lowering mechanism, a circuit to the door which is closed on the door becoming open, an independent switch on the cage, and circuit connections with the electromagnetic mechanism whereby the closing of the switch will energize the electromagnetic mechanism which will cause a stoppage of the cage.

4. In a safety device for controlling the movement of elevator-carriages, the com bination of a shaft, a door opening therein, a hydraulic cylinder having a piston therein, means to connect said piston with the carriage, a sprocket-wheel loosely mounted on the power-shaft, a second shaft adjacent said power-shaft, means to transmit power from said sprocket wheel to said second shaft, means to transmit power from said second shaft to said power-shaft, a sheave loosely mounted on the power-shaft and adapted to transmit power to a supplemental sheave on the valve-shaft, a pair of magnets arranged horizontally with reference to said powershaft, a clutch mechanism on said powershaft adapted to be controlled by said magnets and to rigidly fasten said sheave upon said power-shaft, the said sheave being provided with a segmental gear secured upon the lowerperiphery, a pinion upon the threaded end of the second shaft adapted to engage with said segmental gear, and abutments ar: ranged on said second shaft adapted to engage said pinion, substantially as set forth.

5. A safety device for controlling elevatorcages, comprising a power-shaft equipped with means for driving the same, a wheel loose on the shaft which is provided with a clutch member, a yoke or bracket, electromagnets secured thereto, rods slidable through the yoke and provided with a cross connecting piece or bracket, and a clutch member thereon which is adapted to engage the clutch member on the Wheel, an armature connecting the rods, and springs for retracting the rods and armature, said clutch member on the yoke being slidably splined on the shaft androtatable in the yoke.

6. A safety device for controlling elevatorcages, comprising a power-shaft, a drivingwheel loose thereon, a sheave loose on the shaft which is provided with a clutch, a yoke or bracket, electromagnets secured thereto, rods slidable through the yoke and provided with a cross connecting piece or bracket and a clutch thereon which is adapted to engage the clutch on the wheel, an armature connecting the rods, and springs for retracting the rods and armature, said clutch on the yoke being rotatable therein and slidable on a spline on the shaft, a second shaft having a gear which meshes with the gear on the driving-wheel aforesaid, gearing connecting the two shafts, screw threads on the second shaft,a pinion adapted to turn on said threads,

a segmental gear on the sheave meshing with the said pinion, and abutments on the second shaft adapted to engage and lock said pinion at the limits of its movements.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of two su bscribing witnesses.

GEORGE E. -SHEPLER.

Witnesses:

CLARENCE A. WILLIAMS, JNo. H. Ronny. 

